GE Pluggable Light Switch - Enabling Load Sensing Step by Step

PS: ST app can turn lights off and on manually from the Things page.

In an ST installation, you can use a 45601 as a local controller for I think up to 32 devices, but not as a secondary controller.

The ST hub wonā€™t know what the 45601 did, so the statuses will be out of synch.

The 45601 will not be able to control any zigbee or wifi devices, only zwave, and only zwave that have been directly associated with it and are in direct range.

The 45601 will not be able to do ST mode changes or trigger ST Hello Home Actions or Smartapps.

The 45601 will not be able to include or exclude new devices so the ST hub can see them.

So: local controller, not secondary controller. (The Aeon Minimote, on the other hand, can do all of the above.)

The 45601 will still be useful for some people who donā€™t care if the statuses get out of synch, and just want to use it with some zwave devices that arenā€™t too far away physically.

Thatā€™s why I was asking @Gasparian if he can currently use his 45601 to just turn his lights on and off. If so, his wife might be happy just using them for the specific lights at issue, and pretty much ignoring from the ST perspective. If not, they might just need to be directly associated to it, which goes back to your first suggestion.

But it all depends on the specific needs. If someone wants a controller that also controls zigbee or wifi devices, or changes mode, or any of the other stuff above, the 45601 wonā€™t be it.

Iā€™ll chime in another vote for how obnoxious it is to have to use a secondary controller. Iā€™m working on transitioning over from a vera, and not being able to enable load sensing is nearly a dealbreaker.

Iā€™m surprised that STs hasnā€™t implemented programming to enable the hub to set load-sensing. STs is definitely a work in progress. Tonight I have a light on that shouldnā€™t be on, oh wellā€¦sigh.

I just purchased a GE 12718 Plug-in Smart Dimmer, sort of assuming that when the manual said load sensing was off by default that I would be able to toggle the setting within SmartThings. Iā€™m wondering if this can be achieved by logging in to https://graph.api.smartthings.com/ide/devices and adding a New SmartDevice from Code. Looking at the Templates, I see the code for Dimmer Switch shows some code at the bottom for setting parameter numbers. Iā€™m not a coder, so Iā€™m not quite sure how to accomplish what we need, but it seems like you should be able to add a tile for toggling the load sensing parameter that has some logic behind it to change parameter number 29 between 0 (load sensing off) and 1 (load sensing on). Might this work? Can anyone with some coding chops modify the Dimmer Switch code and share it with us? Thanks in advance!

Sorry, I havenā€™t done any programming with STs. I donā€™t see why you couldnā€™t add a load-sensing toggle to the app. The work-around using a GE controller is a bit cumbersome. The techs were supposed to be working on this problem some time ago when I first brought it to their attention. You might see what they are doing now and give them a little push. It should just be part of the setup when you add the device to your system, not a big headache. Not having load-sensing makes the whole idea of automated lighting a non-starter for me.

If someone could do this it would be awesome! Have two of these in our main room - and not having manual control of the lights is not very smartā€¦ :slight_smile:

Search for my instructions on this site on how to add a GE controller as a secondary controller. You can then enable load sensing and keep the devices on your smartthings system. But you do have to buy the controller.

@Ben any word on supporting load sensing? Seems like a key feature to be missing out on for the dimmer switches.

Any more news on load sensing? I bought the 45601 and followed the steps to the ā€˜Tā€™, getting all the results as listed in the instructions posted here by DavidH, but the plug still doesnā€™t sense a load change. Help? Anyone?

Sorry you havenā€™t been able to enable load-sensing. I know my instructions work, but the process is tricky. Be sure that the GE controller is set up as a secondary controller before doing the process. You can experiment by taking a plug, removing it from SmartThings and resetting it to factory defaults, then seeing if you can set it to load sensing with the controller set as a primary controller. If you can do that, then reconnect the plug to SmartThings, reset the 45601 as a secondary controller and go through the load-sensing configuration again.

I just bought a used 45601 on eBay. I followed the instructions in the original post and now have load sensing enabled on two of the GE 12718 Plug-in Smart Dimmers. Yay! Once enabled, the interaction isnā€™t quite perfect, but itā€™s better than nothing.

If the device is OFF, using the lamp cord switch turns on the light (when toggled to the cord switchā€™s on position). The ā€œThingsā€ icon for the dimmer eventually changes to show the device is ON. However, using the lamp cord switch to turn off the light does not change the deviceā€™s Things icon back to the OFF state. I guess this sort of makes sense, as you wouldnā€™t be able to turn the lamp back on using the Things icon, as the power is switched off on the cord, but it would still be nice if the app reflected the off state (and in a more perfect world would report an error if attempting to turn the device on when the cord switch was off).

I removed the remote from my SmartThings network and load sensing is still enabled on the devices, so if you can find a remote, you only need to borrow one. Anyone want to buy a gently used 45601 remote (or borrow it if youā€™re in the Boston area)? :smile:

for those looking for the code bits to do it without the remote see this thread:

itā€™s actually about adjusting the lamp rates on wall dimmers. But the concept is the same for changing any zwave parameters

you could change the dim parameters, load sensing, all on /all off support, etc. Anything with a parameter.

Basically get pajaroblancoā€™s code.

log in to the ide and then create a new device type.

do ā€œfrom codeā€ and past his code in.

if you want to change dim rate parameters then edit his code with the write numbers (I believe they have it set for fastest dim rate)

If you want to enable load sensing then comment out his configurationSet lines and add in one like i did to change parameter 29.

Myself I renamed the thing at "definition (name: " to ā€œenhanced lamp moduleā€ so i wouldnā€™t confuse myself later. and if you are really into it you can change the label on the new setting tile.

Save, publish. Then in the ide go to my devices and change the device type for you lamp modules to ā€œenhanced lamp moduleā€ or wahtever you named it.

Now on your phone open the device and youā€™ll see a new tile there to set the settings- hit the tile. Nothing really seems to happen but it does itā€™s thing in the background.

PS- Iā€™ve used vera for years (it was too complicated for me to code anything- yet Iā€™m here in smarthings land for 2 days and figured out how to ā€œcodeā€ something if you want to call it that- laughing. Anyway the GE, ACT, Schlage, etc versions of this device that all look the same are all the same inside. The same parameter change will make any of them load sense. Iā€™ve got some of each ā€œbrandā€

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Glad to see people are working on a way to code this in. I havenā€™t done any programming of STs, so it would be nice to see all the lines of code and how to insert them into the app.

Huge disclaimer- I AM NOT A CODER- :wink:

Start on the web

log in to the IDE here:
https://graph.api.smartthings.com

click the tab for "my device types"
click "+new device type"
click ā€œfrom codeā€

get the code from the other thread i linked to and paste it in to that box.

See my edit above- replace the lines in the original you pasted in the box with those lines

click create
Save
publish- to me

now go to "my devices"
find the lamp module you want to fix and click on it
hit edit
in the ā€œtypeā€ drop down list- change the device type to the very last one at the bottom of the list- thatā€™s the device type you created and published above.
hit update

now to your phone

go to the device and open it. Turn off the module if it isnā€™t already. Youā€™ll also see thereā€™s a new tile to fix dimmer or something like that. click it- that runs the code to flip the bit to change the load sensing

it will seem like nothing happens but give it a few seconds to do whatever.

***** now physically walk to the lamp and turn it on with the lamps on off (you probably have to cycle on/off/on)- presto chango load sensing is on and it works.

if you want to undo everything in the IDE and put it back as it was before you can- or you can just leave it- no harm to any of it.

If you want to change any other parameter you can edit that code to change any of the parameters allowed in the devices.

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for those who use a custom device type- i just discovered that you DO want to take the time to switch back to the official device type when done if you have a V2 hub and want to take advantage of local processing at the current time:

seems only the smarthings supplied devices are able to run locally.

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Thanks, nice to have this. Itā€™s been over a year since I discussed the problems with STs tech support and they have done nothing to fix a fundamental problem that, if you donā€™t fix it yourself, makes automated lighting poorly functional. BTW, now that smart bulbs are appearing, they help ameliorate the problem. I have a Cree smart bulb in my office and it was easy to set up, cheap, and doesnā€™t require a load-sensing fix.

for plug in devices all these new connected bulbs might be the way to go- but i did see a giant thread about complaints that they get wonky with power outages. Apparently some can return to last known state but many default to on. So if you have many of the bulbs and the power goes out when you are away you could come home to a place lit up like an NFL stadium.

Simple fix to that seems to be just scheduling them all to turn off at some point in the middle of the night just in case.

Iā€™d guess they sort of ā€œload senseā€ in reverse for situations where you turn them off with the HUB but then use the lamps local know or whatever? I assume they figure out to toggle and you dont need to get the app out to turn them on?

Probably nothing perfect till everything is prebuilt with something built in. But nice to see thereā€™s an option in the smartbulbs. I canā€™t get over how cheap they are either.

The bulbs turn off and on easily with a switch. I havenā€™t had a power outage to test whether they stay on. An all off is a good idea.

All GE Links and Cree Connected bulbs will turn on if you the switch gets turned off and then on, all of them. This might sound great until you get a power glitch/cut in the middle of the night and your room lights up suddenly.

Iā€™ve got 20xGE Links and 4xCree Connected bulbs and feel I made a huge mistake, Iā€™m going to start replacing them with ā€˜dumbā€™ LEDs and changing to GE 127xx Z-Wave switches instead.